Alfonso Cuarón looks to the stars

The long-awaited film, which saw a multitude of A-listers linked to the lead roles before Oscar-winners Sandra Bullock and George Clooney were locked in, is one of 2013’s most intriguing releases.

Not based on a comic-book/sci-fi novel/TV show, it’s a wholly original invention from a script by director Alfonso Cuarón and his son Jonás Cuarón.

Bullock stars as medical engineer Dr Ryan Stone, a newcomer to space flight, and Clooney is veteran shuttle commander Matt Kowalsky. After a mid-flight disaster, the pair end up detached from their craft and floating out into the darkness.

Clooney has previous form when it comes to dark, thinky sci-fi, having starred in Steven Soderbergh’s Solaris , and Alfonso Cuarón’s Children Of Men was thought-provoking and grittily believable. For Bullock, this is her first genre entry since Demolition Man (we're guessing that Gravity 'll be a little subtler than that Stallone vehicle).